


A Powerful Treasure

by McFaneLy



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Chains, Cole Whump, Magic, Mind Manipulation, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prisoner Cole (Ninjago), Sorcerers, cole angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25250398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McFaneLy/pseuds/McFaneLy
Summary: A new enemy has surfaced in Ninjago, but before his plans have even properly come to light, before much is even significantly known about the man; the ninja are attacked in the Monastery. They all get out unscathed, more or less, but when they can’t find Cole...
Comments: 21
Kudos: 63





	A Powerful Treasure

There were times when Cole woke up in the Monastery and forgot where he was. It seemed to just be a fact of life, especially when that life included being a ninja and most of the time going from place to place in a mad rush to prevent the whole of Ninjago from being destroyed. So waking up to brief confusion as a soft orange haze of light managed to bleed through his closed eyelids was nothing new to the Earth ninja. He must have been in the bunk room on the Bounty, and unfortunate shifting in his sleep along with a perfectly angled ship had meant that a direct ray of sunlight was destined to go into his eyes as soon as he opened them. 

No matter where he moved his head, nothing seemed to help it other than an arm thrown haphazardly over his face to prevent the light from coming in. 

Then, over the course of a few seconds, it occurred suddenly that he didn't even remember boarding the Bounty the day before, nor he didn't remember going to sleep either. The process of getting ready for bed, it was the same every night. A few hours of relaxation and watching TV, maybe some games, late night training if Cole felt like it and his body didn’t ache, then he'd climb into bed and wake up to his alarm the next day to get ready for morning practice. 

In fact, Cole didn't even recall having dinner that night. He remembered that Zane had started cooking, because everyone had set up shop in the dining room because they were researching… Something. 

Something important, something that was a pressing matter. Something that Cole had no reason to have forgotten, but that wasn't the only thing he was blanking on. 

A good portion of the previous day, a sheer blank slate in his mind. 

Cole shot up sharply in bed, the quilt falling off where it had been tucked in around him and off the edge of the bed. Though the white cotton sheet getting dirtied on the floor wasn't the biggest of his problems in that instance. 

It was what he was wearing, and the fact that he didn't own anything like it. They were simple clothes, a white t-shirt and trousers that seemed to be made from the same material, all the way down to the threading used to hold it all together. It looked like spools of sheer gold to the naked eye, so thin and sewn so carefully that each pass looked far too delicate to even touch. 

He was barefoot, legs now crossed beneath himself as he sat up, staring down at his new get-up with a building sense of confusion and honestly, unease. 

That wasn't even half of it. The next thing that Cole's sleep filled eyes were drawn to were the multiple golden necklaces adorned around his neck. The clothing in itself wasn't the best, the low cut shirt was nothing he'd ever choose to wear, but jewellery? And so much of it? Necklaces of varying sizes, with varying styles. Some with more of a chunkier design, interlaced with embedded gems, some that shone blue and deep purples, even some crystals that were clear and perfectly cut were set in their own golden casts, resting heavy around his neck and cold against his skin.

Cole couldn't help but grimace slightly at the sight, and partially at the situation he'd woken up to. His mind was still groggy with sleep, as it was every morning before he'd properly woken up, but sometimes a large enough shock was enough to force his mind into gear. That's exactly what he got when he looked up, the drowsy side of his brain telling him all he was going to see was his bedroom and nothing more. 

Nothing more. 

That wasn't what he was met with, and the sharp mental slingshot he experienced when what his eyes met didn't correlate with what he'd thought he was going to see made his mouth drop open. 

"Holy crap." Cole whispered as his eyes graced over the room. 

Not his bedroom, not the Bounty. 

He was alert and on edge in mere seconds, shuffling to the edge of a king sized four-poster that was definitely not his own, his eyes flicking between every inch of the room he found himself in. Cole had no idea where he was. 

The room was huge by bedroom standards, it was wide, circular in shape as if it had been crafted to fit into a tower, or the outer edges of a palace, because that's the first thing the Earth Master thought as he took in his surroundings. 

Everything was varying between shades of near opalescent whites and solid and sheer golds. There were bookcases full of old tomes lining one wall, their pages cracked and wrinkled with time, use, and most likely exposure to the sunlight leaking into the room. The walls stood tall, almost twice the height than those in a regular house, the white finish patterned with ornate golden curves and flurries, some crafted and guided to form the shape of flowers, some budding and some fully open with their petals spread wide; some formed leaves and stems, climbing up higher and higher in an ornate mural to nature. Each stroke seemed to be hand painted to perfection, not a single aspect out of place. The other walls had the same treatment, towering high and covered beautifully with art. 

There were chairs dotted around the place, carpets and cushions set out in an organised fashion over the wooden boarded floor, a table with a small stack of what seemed to be notebooks and an assortment of pens and pencils beside them. 

Then, just to his left, there was the most elaborate window Cole had ever seen in his life. It stretched floor to ceiling in an arched pattern, twin golden frames curving up and meeting together just before the ceiling began, and a single pane of fitted glass had been oh so carefully slotted in between. An incredible and astounding feat of craftsmanship, only emboldened by the curtains draped down the sides, long enough to collect and bunch on the floor in what nearly seemed like a treasonous act. The golden fabric was almost opaque, doing no significant job of keeping the sunlight out. They were there for futilities sake; serving no purpose other than to look nice in the room and that was it. 

Cole stepped just a bit closer to the window, his bare feet tapping lightly on the wooden boards as he neared the looking glass which currently only displayed the world outside as a layer of blue with multiple different blankets of clouds dotted over the skyscape. 

That was all he could see before he was halted in his step half-way between the bed and one possible way outside, by a force that held his arms back and almost tripped him in his step. 

The situation he was in changed in that single instant, from a clear sense of uncertainty and wariness of waking up in a completely unknown environment; to immediately being on edge and alert for any possible dangers that could be shrouded in the room that seemed to be built for royalty. 

All Cole could do was stare back towards his bed, specifically at the floor, and wonder how he hadn't noticed it before. Maybe it was the shock of the room, or overall being thrown into the new situation, but it had now become something much more threatening. 

Lengths of chains were stretched out over the floor, thick links that dragged and scratched with each movement Cole made. Stretching from seemingly some hidden point under the bed over to where he was standing, only then lifting off the floor and reaching up to where they ended, welded neatly onto a set of ornate cuffs that sat tightly around his wrist. How had he not noticed them, how had he not realised--

_Chained… I'm chained down and the first thing I notice is the damn room?_

Cole found himself staring down at the metal, moving his arms and legs and watching as the four individual lengths of chains shifted with each movement, as if those objects themselves were driving home the fact that they were in fact locked around his wrists and ankles in a present and heavy weight. The chains themselves were bulky, but the cuffs were a whole other thing. They stretched half way up his forearms and Cole couldn't find the seam where the clicked shut, nor a slot for a key to open them up. 

They seemed to be one single piece of metal all the way around, they shifted and turned when he moved but they didn't do much else. Mere millimeters away from cutting off circulation to his extremities, and for a way to keep him captive in that one room they had no business being as elegant as they were. Reflecting the sunlight of what occurred to Cole as an ending day, the bright yellows that had cascaded through the window faded further and further into the depths of orange that indicated an oncoming sunset, it gave the cuffs a glow to them. Warm and soft, a sheer oxymoron. The surface of them was etched with light grooves, interspersed with an inset obsidian black stone. 

Cole was around five minutes into pulling on the chains, the clang of metal hitting the ground and then being pulled taut to within an inch of its life resounded around the previously quiet room; when he realised the black rock was Vengestone. The cuffs dug into the skin at his wrists, leaving deep grooves and reddened skin in its wake, and whilst his strength was great even without his elemental abilities, even if he had his powers something told him that these chains weren't going to give so easily. 

"Come on, come on! Break! Please break, please--!" 

It was when blood was drawn that Cole decided to stop, a red line manoeuvring its way down the palm of his hand and his index finger to drip silently onto the floor. 

Cole followed suit, sitting down against the side of the bed and just allowing his head to droop forwards. It wasn't in defeat, he wouldn't allow it to be in defeat, he wasn't giving up already. When the pain in his arms subsided he'd just try again, and again afterwards. 

Again until he either broke the chains, or pulled the deadbolt out from where it was embedded in the concrete wall underneath the bed. 

He just had to wait for his muscles to stop aching before he started up his onslaught on the chains again. The brief respite from activity gave him some time to try and resolve the gaps he had in his memory. 

There was a large blank section, starting the day before, as he'd just sat down at the dining table with a brand new and far too large book on Ninjagian Lore and Power, entirely reluctant to open it up even though he did enjoy reading. There was a vast difference between reading for pleasure and mandatory reading, and Cole knew which one he preferred. 

Then there was nothing, an empty space in his memories that must have been extensive since he was sure it had been at least a day since he'd been walking the halls of the Monastery. Though the more Cole tried to discern what fitted into the gap, what had occurred that had ended with him waking up in an unknown room who-even-knew-where, chained down, the more the answer eluded him. 

Cole grit his teeth, closed his eyes, and tried to find something. Anything. He'd sat down with a book, gone to open it-- nothing. 

He'd sat down with a book and opened it, then nothing. 

_Always nothing._

"Why don't I remember..?" Cole mumbled quietly to himself, his hands fisted tightly at his sides. "Why is everything blank, why can't I think?" He wasn't talking to anyone in particular, but he needed to vent his frustration some way. 

All he needed was one thing, one memory! Anything that would just give him _something_ to work with. 

That section remained carefully blank. 

The room he was in had no reason to look so nice, the mattress at his back shouldn't have felt so soft. It was a cage, no matter what it looked like. The chains around his wrists didn't have enough slack to let him reach the window so they definitely didn't reach the door on the opposite side, it was a gilded cage fit for royalty. Far too lavish. Nauseating almost. 

There wasn't anywhere in Ninjago like it, at least no place that Cole could think of off the top of his head. 

All the golds and light pouring in from a giant window provided a rolling and extensive view of the fading sky. Then, looking at himself, he realised with startling clarity that he fitted the theme too with what he was wearing. Whites and golds, even the vengestone chains followed suit. 

He knew he wasn't getting them off any time soon, but he could definitely make himself feel better. Starting with the golden cords around his neck, lacing his fingers around them and yanking until either the clasps broke or the small chains splintered. They ended up thrown at the opposite wall, landing in a broken and heaped mess, flecks of metal and inlaid gems clanking and bouncing out over the floor as the ruined jewellery landed. Cole then moved on to the bangles around his wrists, twisting and distorting the thin metal until they gave in to strain and broke. Again, discarded in their own wreaked pile. 

He was about to move onto the shirt, hands poised to start tearing at the seams and tearing the fabric when the click of a lock quickly drew his attention to the door of the room. 

Cole was on his feet in an instant, his arms drawn up and in front of himself in a defensive position. As the door swung open he stood his ground and readied himself for whoever or whatever was about to step inside. 

Whether years of fighting against less than human entities in an effort to prevent the destruction of Ninjago, a man who looked just a little bit older than himself walking in hadn't been what Cole had anticipated; but an enemy was an enemy. 

He was the one in chains, that man was not. There was an all too present imbalance but that didn't mean that Cole was at a disadvantage. All he had to do was wait for him to step closer, when they were close enough and if there was enough slack on the chains then all it would take was a well timed and solid strike to the side of the head and the man would go down. Clearly, the man had a key to the door, so he'd probably also have something for the cuffs too. 

Though with the distance, all Cole could do was stand his ground, stare down his captor and demand some answers. 

Only to be completely thrown off by the first words that come out of the guy's mouth. 

"Ah, my treasure wakes." 

The man proceeded to advance further into the room, closer to where Cole was standing and besides his better judgement, besides the plan he was going to enact just a few seconds ago, the ninja took a few steps back to maintain the distance between the two of them. The words, the almost honey-sweet lilt to them, the way the man's voice made the hair on the back of his neck and his arms prickle. He was on edge in an instant, uneasy, and the look held in the man's eyes as they just seemed to trace over his body was anything but calming. If he was at all bothered by the broken jewellery, he wasn’t letting on. 

His eyes were a deep yellow, and not just the cornea, but the entire thing. Almost like a buffed tigers eye gemstone had been dropped into each of his sockets. The man was dressed regally too, flowing robes in vibrant shades of purple and interspersed with golden trim, shoulder length jet black hair clashing sharply with the pale pallor of his skin. There's a crown on his head too, and Cole realises that within the intricate pattern of gold, a yellow veined piece of vengestone was suspended in the centre. It almost looked to be floating. 

Still, he was advancing, and Cole's legs coming into contact with the bed frame forced himself to halt his own retreat. He liked to think he was tall, but as the man stopped just in front of him, there was enough of a height difference that it forced the Earth Master to cast his gaze upwards. 

"I've been waiting for you to wake up, you were asleep for a lot longer than I'd anticipated but alas, here we are." The man gave a small smile, and Cole's expression blanched as he felt the man's fingers wrap lightly around his left wrist. It was more than easy to bat them away, the motion accompanied by the clank of swinging chains. That rejection didn't seem to perturb the man, who just continued with what he was doing, this time lifting one hand and threading it into the strands of Cole's hair. 

One warning, that was enough, but the instant he felt the grip tighten in his hair was the point at which the man was solidly shoved away. There was a light stumble, and Cole's brows were furrowed in indignation, his own hands up in between the two of them to act as a barrier. It hadn't taken much strength to get the guy to move away but the hand yanking at his hair as it was dislodged left a low hum of pain in his temple. 

"Don't touch me." He ground out, his fists clenched tightly. He wasn't going to stand there and be handled by a stranger as if he was just something to be admired. That was what he saw in the man's eyes, what he read in his expression even just after a few seconds. Initially, he'd hoped that the assumption was mistaken, but the actions and words? 

"I get that I'm a prisoner, but that doesn't mean I'm taking your crap, you touch me again and I'll break your face." Cole spat. 

Only to be met with a light and jovial laugh. "Ah, as stoic as your element. I knew there was a reason I picked you." the man spoke, something new and entirely unreadable floating in his eyes, "You're not a prisoner, Cole."

Cole didn't allow himself to bristle at the fact that the man knew his name, most people did nowadays, so he just lifted his wrists and the chains moved with them, his expression shifting carefully to neutral, "Sure, because I definitely don't feel like one."

The man nodded, as if he didn't get the joke. Or maybe he did, he just wasn't going to humour him with the sarcasm he'd tried to use. There was a brief moment when the room fell into silence, only for the man to break it quickly by crouching down and picking two loose loops of chain in his hands, rolling the golden links over in his palm for a brief second as he looked over the glinting metal. "Exactly." 

Then he tightened his grip and pulled in one fluid motion. Cole's arms were yanked forwards first, the chains dragging the cuffs with them only caused him to stumble forwards and forcibly bridge the gap he'd just made between the two of them. His hands were pulled down to his side by the unyielding chains grasped in the man's hold. 

It was embarrassing, but any other feeling was quickly overtaken by the situation as a whole. He hadn't even noticed what the man had been doing before it was too late, he hadn't even spared a second glance when he'd stooped to lift the chains, Cole hadn't even thought twice about what he'd planned. He'd just watched it all play out like an idiot. 

He twisted his wrists in the shackles, pulling upwards against the opposing strength but whoever that guy was, there was no contention of who was stronger in that situation. He simply held the chains in one hand by his side, preventing Cole from lifting his arms to any significant degree. 

They were chest to chest, the man's face crooning down to his own with an all too soft expression, "You're my guest. You're safe here." 

The unnerving calm of the man's manner was opposed by the seething vitriol that the Earth Ninja managed to muster as he glared back. Their faces were mere inches apart, solid yellow eyes boring down into his own. 

Again, like before, he felt the man's free hand lift into his hair, looping a longer strand around one of his fingers. There wasn't time to take in the discomfort that came with the light touch as Cole shook his head to dislodge the hold. 

This time, it didn't do much good. The hand was there again, fingers carding through like before. 

He wanted nothing more than to deliver on the previous promise of breaking the guys face, if it meant just getting him to let go and go away, but with his hands pinned down and no way to manoeuvre out the situation at hand, he forced out a heavy breath and decided on a much more logical approach. If all options are exhausted, go from a different angle. 

If he couldn't break the man's hold, he'd talk. Get more information, try and fill the gap in his memory. Stall for time and find an opening. Something.

"I'm not a guest, but if I'm not a prisoner, then what am I?" Cole questioned, forcing himself to keep his face neutral as he felt the strangers hand tug lightly on the back of his hair. "Why am I here?" 

The man gave a chuckle, his hand blessedly dropping away from his hair only to get the ghost of fingers caressing lightly over his cheek. Then when he felt the full warm touch cupping the side of his face, Cole couldn't keep the repulsed look at bay as he tilted his head as far as he could in the other direction. 

There was a sudden flash of irritation, but that quickly quashed under a careful sigh as if he'd never been phased to begin with. Though it was preceded by a glowing glare in his eyes, the different scars that Cole could now see cleaved through the man's hair, leaving present but healed grooves. Then there was the grin, the all too white smile and the sharpened canines that he could see now that they were far too close quarters, "That's not of any importance, you're here now and that's all that matters."

In that instant, unannounced, memories came flooding back. 

The rumours that he and his brothers had heard about a travelling sorcerer. A man, passing from village to village who generally stayed on the rural outskirts of Ninjago. Whether it was to stay under the radar or something else, any and all pertinent news tended to find its way to them at one point or another. 

An unknown man who would charm the locals and spend a few days at each new location, for then to simply raze the area to the ground and move on. 

He'd disappear for a few days and then crop up again, seemingly as bedraggled as he had been that very first time the man had shown his face. No trace of the kindness the previous villages had expressed to him, no gifts of fresh clothes to replace the worn ones that were practically falling from his body. He would just stay, wreak havoc, and then move on. With each new village, the end result seemed to get worse and worse. It started with harvests being culled, vast fields of rice rotting and dead. Then, homes had been targeted. Old, dried wooden beams weakened with rot and mould that worked its way from the inside out until the houses collapsed. 

Every time the ninja had heard of this mystery man being in a certain area, all they constantly arrived to find where displaced lives, ruined livelihoods. But always too late. They all helped in any way they could, clean-up crew, basic first aid, collected as much information they could, then like every other time before that they just returned back to the monastery with nothing more than a feeling of uselessness. 

It had taken their collective force around a week to figure out who this wandering destroyer was, and Sensei Wu had been fairly insightful even if what he had provided had been a bedtime story he'd been told of in his youth. It was exactly the man they'd been searching for. 

A powerful sorcerer by the name of Acacius had used to travel the land during the time of the First Spinjitzu Master. A wanderer. He'd go from place to place, areas of power as Sensei Wu had dubbed them, and drain it all dry. Then move on to the next place. He'd done it for decades, terrorising people and elemental masters alike, draining life away from lands, destroying crops, removing life forces. Apparently when a story was told by the man who had split apart a continent and created a realm, there was no moral or warning, just information and a true tale. Either way, it was also a pretty dark bedtime story. 

The story ended as most did, with the heroes triumphing over evil. Though it wasn't anything large or garish, it was resolved quietly. 

The First Spinjitzu Master had finally caught up with this incredibly powerful sorcerer, this creature twisted on stolen power and a near incandescent drive for more, and had locked him away. Where? That hadn't been important to the story. Apparently vagueness ran in the family. 

Cole remembered listening to the story before picking up a book on ancient lore, flipping straight to the back and to the index of the tome, tracing his finger carefully down the letters until he found _Acacius_. 

Before he'd even focused properly on the list, the front gates of the Monastery had ruptured inwards, followed by a sheer cascade of energy that had ricocheted through the halls and blown all their written notes clean off the dining table and onto the floor. 

They'd all grabbed their weapons and headed to the courtyard of the Monastery in seconds, facing a man-- Acacius, no longer dressed in rags, no longer lying to appeal to the good nature of caring people. He was standing tall, back straight, a wicked grin on his lips which only seemed to widen further when both Lloyd and Wu had stepped out to face this ancient enemy.

Cole remembered that they'd fought. They'd fought and fallen, been batted into the stone walls encasing their home and watched as different sections fell down and crumbled around their brothers, who proceeded to get up and join the fray again with no second thought to injuries. No one could seem to get close enough to the sorcerer, charging at Acacius with unrelenting synchronisation though all the while he continued to laugh about how it had been so easy to find them. 

_Creation and Energy, both in one place? It's almost easy pickings, I could sense you from miles away!_

The voice was deep, it vibrated through Cole's core with the power the words alone exuded. It was clear how the man had been able to hold his ground, however briefly, against the First Spinjitzu Master. 

It promptly became a fight to protect Lloyd and Sensei Wu and the power they both possessed. Only it didn't end like that. 

Cole was the only one who'd managed to get some form of a significant hit in. He'd shuck the ground with a light stamp of his foot, and the fissure that had split the inlaid stone of the courtyard was enough to cause a mere second of distraction for the sorcerer. 

He'd charged forwards, and had kept going even as Acacius had locked eyes with his own. His legs were already moving and there was already so much momentum, all Cole needed to do was commit and swing his hammer. The attack wasn't his best, and with a last minute shift from the sorcerer, it left him swinging that bit too wide. Initially, he'd thought it would miss in its entirety, yet the weighted metal had scarcely managed to clip the man's jaw enough to throw him off balance. 

In the following seconds, he had felt a hand pressed to his forehead, and the world had flickered to black. 

Then he'd woken up. 

Cole couldn't help but stumble at the sudden flood of information, the gap in his memory all too quickly blazed with missing images and memories, enough that the abrupt movement had caught both him and his captor- Acacius, off guard. 

It took one step back and his legs clipped the edge of the bed frame, the obstacle only caused him to fall backwards onto the mattress. Though he recovered quickly and used that short moment to put more space in between him and the sorcerer, pulling his wrists and yanking the chains until all the slack that he had was now on his side of the bed and couldn't be used by the man as a immobilisation tactic again. 

Acacius, who hadn't shifted from where he'd been standing beforehand, had a large grin plastered over his face. His gaze seemed almost soft, almost caring even; it only served to make Cole shudder. 

"I visited your home to gain more power." He explains after a short moment of quiet, his gaze resolutely fixed on where Cole was standing, Acacius almost seemed annoyed at the bed between them, "So many elemental masters in one place, it was like a buffet." He took a deep breath in, his eyes closing. It was almost like he was being chided for the circumstances that had led the man to their home. Not that there had been any feasible way to find out in such a short space of time that Lloyd and Sensei Wu would be at risk.

Why he'd decided to change tact and take him instead, Cole wasn't sure. If there was power, as much as he hated that he even thought it, Lloyd was the logical pick. Though between any one of his family and himself, if he knew that they'd end up locked and chained in the room he was in now, staring back at a powerful sorcerer with an unknown plan and newfound freedom after being imprisoned; Cole was glad it was him in that situation. 

"But then I saw you," Acacius continued, "And my plans changed just a little. I've always liked you Earth Masters, you see." He kept his gaze on his captive as he took a short step to the side, one that Cole mirrored in the opposite direction. The sorcerer seemed amused by the reaction. "You have a lot of power, sure, nothing comparable to Creation or Energy but you're definitely up there. You can direct energy, just like I can. I'm sure you can make nature flourish with just a small nudge," He says, it's more of a question than a statement, and Cole almost answers before he caught himself and closed his mouth again. "My power decreased vastly over my… Many decades being imprisoned, but you. You can help me." 

At that, the short step the man had taken previously turned into a stride as he circled around the bed. Cole had both feet on top of the mattress in a second, intent on cutting over to the other side but a hand clasped around his wrist halted any significant plan of getting away. He should have moved faster, but what the sorcerer was planning, it had him stumped. His power didn't redirect energy, it made the earth shake. Sure, maybe plants grew around him, grass seemed to be greener in his presence, but that wasn't energy, that was just his element. That short moment of being lost in thought was a moment too much. 

He was dragged from the bed with a yelp, his back shoved sharply against the wall and the grip on his wrist tightened to a near bruising hold that made him grit his teeth against the pain. 

Acacius was hemming him in, more so than before. With the wall at his back there wasn't anywhere he could retreat to, and with the bed to his left and his captor looming too close to his right he was well and truly backed into a corner.

"Think about it," He hummed in a whispered tone, "With your power, you can move energy around more freely than I can. Maybe only to plant life and through the earth currently, but given time, you can learn to transfer it to me." Cole simply stared, was he really giving away what he was planning? That he just wanted more power, and a constant supply of it? That Cole could help with it and that was why he'd taken him? Why his powers were locked down with Vengestone instead of being drained away at the hands of this power hungry ancient being? 

Trapped where he was, listening to Acacius liking the sound of his own voice, Cole scoffed loudly in the face of the man who was standing far too close, far too in his personal space. It was uncomfortable and he wasn't a fan of being pulled around by his wrist and chains as if that was what it took to have a civilised conversation. There was no being civil about anything, so he wasn't going to be polite in return. There wasn't much that was going to stop him from throwing a wrench into his plans, being spoken down to was more than enough to develop a solid dislike of a person, though before he could say anything along the lines of _no, that's never going to happen. You have about two days before my brothers find me and you, and then less than a week until you're imprisoned again._

He had faith, and the speed of which they reacted to a situation increased tenfold when someone they cared about was in danger. 

"You're so beautiful." 

Cole froze in place, his eyes widening just a fraction at what he'd just heard. It was said with a quiet sigh, the warm puff of air just beside his face. He grimaced, pushing himself back into the wall to just try in vain to get further away from the man. The situation had taken a turn, a very dangerous turn. 

"... What?" He questioned, his voice carefully measured. It gave nothing away, though he was sure his eyes were being windows to his soul. He could feel the tenseness in his body, the rush of adrenaline through his muscles. 

Cole felt the grip that was latched around his wrist move down to his hand. His mind was moving a mile a minute, trying to figure out what he'd missed about his current circumstances. Usually prisoners were taken in order to give said person no other choice but to carry out the demands of their captor, or outright refuse and await rescue, whatever the repercussions may be. He had been taken prisoner because of his supposed complimentary power to the sorcerer, but he could clearly see that wasn't the whole story. Was this supposed affection the driving force behind everything, or was it all part of some larger plan in place? 

There must have been so much more to it, there had to be. 

Or maybe there wasn't. Maybe his powers and how they could apparently be used was the added bonus in this situation.

Cole took in a sharp breath, and solidified his gaze, "I don't care what you think, or what you want from having me here, but I'm not helping you with anything." He spat out. 

Acacius lent forward, his voice close enough to Cole's ear that he shuddered, leaning away as much as he could. He forced himself to remain calm, ignoring the man's advances in favour of staring at the door that was just left hanging open as if tempting something he couldn’t have. Outside, there seemed to be a corridor that went off in either direction, but even if he could get out of the sorcerer's hold, he still wouldn't be able to leave. Not with the chains. 

He really was counting on his brothers this time, placing faith in the fact that they would find out where he was, that they'd come barging in, breaking down the door and freeing him. He needed them to come in at that very moment. The silent hope that they'd walk in any second depleted as the seconds ticked by. 

"The great thing is, Cole, I don't need you to be okay with helping me increase my power." Acacius pulled back just a little, his solid eyes dancing slowly over Cole's face, as if looking for something, or waiting. 

"When we're married," He started, and Cole felt a lead weight drop down in his stomach, but before he could say anything against it, laugh, roll his eyes, lash out, anything at all, Acacius continued on as if what he was saying was completely normal. "I'll get to keep you all to myself. Your power will be mine to wield, and mine alone.” His voice was so carefully measured, “I don't need you to agree to my plans, I just need to keep you here for a few more days. What did you say, two days ? And your friends will be here? You'd better hope you're correct, my sweet." A thumb was stroked carefully over his cheek. 

Cole saw red in an instant, and closed in against a wall or not, mind still reeling and trying to take in and just compute what he'd just heard; he could work on instinct when everything else failed. Instinct brought a hand up, balled tightly into a fist and whilst the impact that was made between his knuckles and his captors nose wasn't anything to shout about, the clank of the chains being permeated by a shout of pain and what was hopefully the crack of cartilage was music to Cole's ears. 

The action was over before he'd even realised what he'd done, but the aftereffects were a sight. Acacius collected himself off the floor from where he'd fallen backwards, hands held resolutely over his face to presumably stem the blood flow and conceal a broken nose. 

Cole wasn't smiling though, his heart was racing, his teeth were clenched as he stepped closer to his captor. 

"My power isn't yours to use!" 

The Earth Master dropped down into a fighting stance, his gaze set on the sorcerer as he got up. Yet, when he stood up straight and moved his hand away from his face there wasn't the pouring line of red blood dripping from his nostrils that Cole had anticipated. It was black, flowing like ink from a quill, dripping off his chin and staining the floorboards below. Surprisingly, there was no anger in the man's eyes, just an unusual admiration and to Cole's disgust, a fondness that was now clearly at the surface. Teeth were bared in a small grin, the black blood staining his teeth when it found its way into his mouth. 

He'd fought worse enemies before, and he'd inevitably do it again in the future. This man… This thing, he would just be another name on an ever growing list. Cole tilted his head until his neck popped lightly, then clenched his knuckles until those joints followed suit. He was at a disadvantage, but he wasn't going to lose this fight. 

His anger just spiked sharply with every second they stared at each other. "You can't make me do anything. I'm not marrying anyone, I'm not helping you with your energy addiction and I'm not just going to sit back and do nothing!" 

Acacius seemed to be taking all the time in the world righting himself, starting with tugging on his waistcoat to flatten the crumples back down, to pulling a pure white handkerchief out of a hidden pocket to wipe at the black ooze still falling from his nose. It didn't do much, only serving to smear what was there, but he didn't seem too bothered by it, nor the blackened stains that had fallen onto his clothes. No, his attention was stoically set on Cole. 

He didn't take a step forward this time, almost as if he was treating his prisoner like a frightened animal, which he wasn't. Though he was fairly predisposed to fight back in an instant should he feel at all threatened. Cole hadn't moved out of his fighting stance, and wasn't going to any time soon. That was clear. 

"You must be pretty exhausted, with all this thinking and worrying." came the man's voice, softly spoken over the space that had formed between them. 

All that was gained in return was a raised eyebrow and a scowl.

Acacius spread his hands carefully, and Cole could have sworn that the man’s eyes seemed to flicker with an all too sudden yellow glow. 

There was a minute step closer, the sole of the sorcerer's shoes clicking against the wood as he said, "You don't want to fight me, perhaps some sleep will do you some good."

The effect was instant, the words… They seemed to resonate so deeply, cascade around the room in a reverberating wave until they met Cole's ears, crashing down and enveloping his mind in a sudden and palpable haze. 

His arms dropped from their defencive stand, hanging loosely down at his sides. His eyes followed suit, eyelids growing heavy in mere seconds, the drag of sleep so instant and all encompassing that he'd never felt such sheer levels of exhaustion in his life. 

It felt wrong. 

"What-- what did you do..?" Cole questioned, his words slurred and drawn out, his tongue heavy in his mouth. The question was quiet, whispered, and broken by a large yawn that came up from nowhere. 

He could feel his body shutting down, any drive to fight the man that was stepping closer had all but faded out of existence. He didn't want to fight, he could even keep his eyes open. All he wanted was to sleep. 

Cole's legs were the first to buckle, but he didn't hit the ground. Acacius was by his side in an instant, one arm weaved carefully around his waist to support his weight and keep him more or less upright. The other hand came to rest on the back of his head, guiding it until his cheek was resting against his captors shoulder as his eyes fluttered, his mind trying to force himself to stay awake. That small part, struggling to keep cognitive thought running through his sleep laden mind. 

"I just helped you, my sweet." Was the reply, the voice flowing past the fog in his head as if it wasn't even there, trying to keep wakefulness at bay. Acacius's voice was clear, perfectly so. The clearest thing in the whole room. "I can't have you worried, you see? Constantly alert for any opportunity to escape, ruining my plans, you don't want that, do you?" 

Cole finds himself tuning in to the sickly sweet voice, his head shaking in a silent no against the man's shoulder, before he caught himself, his mind snapping back to reality, but a second was enough to drive himself to speak around the forced slumber. 

" _Stop it._ "

"Stop what?" there was a small breath, almost a laugh, but not quite there. The hand on his head moved lightly, fingers carding back and forth through his hair in a rhythmic fashion. Cole wanted nothing more than to reach up, drag the touch away and beat the guy until he was a blackened grease smear on the floor, but he couldn't make his body move. 

He could just feel it relax more and more, the tenseness of his muscles falling away as his body collapsed, resting fully against the sorcerers chest. 

"Sleep, my treasure.” The voice almost echoed around his head, the words blanketing, all-encompassing. “We will be wed before the week is done. You're safe here, this is the best place you could be." 

His eyes slipped closed, body slumping entirely in the man's hold, breathing slowed in the throes of the forced rest.

" _Sleep._ "

Cole's mind finally gave in. 

**Author's Note:**

> This originally started off as a small idea, and I had intended it on being like, 1500+ words when I planned it out. But you know!   
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Fane,


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